


Deconstructing Misconceptions

by catrinahart



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catrinahart/pseuds/catrinahart
Summary: Niall is the foreman on a huge construction project and Harry is... well Harry is a pain in his arse.





	Deconstructing Misconceptions

**Author's Note:**

> So I received this anon prompt on tumblr:
> 
> Its about Niall a very grumpy closed off construction builder who went through a lot in his life.... And Harry the rich cocky interior designer. They end working together in a project. The first thing that came to my mind was “opposites attracts”... I' m a big fan of really angst-y fics but with happy endings of course.
> 
> So I don't think I got everything you asked for and its not really very angsty but I tried to get everything in there- and I figured you had waited long enough ( 3 months). I will also admit to very little knowledge of full construction projects- so please allow for creative liberties. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Niall!” No, no, no, no, no, no, no…not now- he is not supposed to be visiting the job site today... Niall’s having a good day. A really great day actually. God damn it, the last thing he needs is for  _ him _ to come by and ruin it. Things were going well, he was getting things accomplished and things were moving along quite nicely. Something that doesn’t usually happen after  _ he  _ visits the site.   

He looks back over his shoulder and sure enough there he is, strutting through the construction site with a smile on his face. He’s been the thorn in his side for this entire fucking project. Harry Styles- the goddamn interior designer and architect from hell. 

“Mr. Styles.” He turns around to greet the other man as he walks through the construction site. He draws glaces from most of the men on his crew- not only with the way he dresses; today it’s an eye catching sparkling blue shirt with white straight leg slacks; but because they all know what’s coming after he leaves. Niall feels like he won some type of battle just because Harry’s at least wearing steel toed boot and a hard hat, both clash with his outfit and he gets a little bit of joy from that. He tried but could never get the man in high visibility apparel- not that you could miss him anyway.  

“Niall, how many times have I told you to call me Harry?” The other man says still smiling brightly at him- and if Niall wasn’t sure that he was here to make his life hell, he would find the other lad insanely attractive. He actually did when they met for the first time less than six months ago, with his halo of dark curls and dimpled smile. It’s amazing how quickly that can change. Now Harry’s cocky grin makes Niall’s blood boil and he tells himself it’s because he really wants to hit him but he actually just really tries not to think about it -  _ him-  _ too much, it makes his head hurt.

“Harry, what can I do for you?” He asks, relenting and seeing those bright green eyes light up at use of his name, his smile turing into that smirk that Niall doesn’t find attractive in the slightest. No, nope, nada- not attractive at all.

“Well, we have a couple changes to run by you.” And there it is.  

Niall looks around the building, the framing is completely up, the roof is done, granted it still looks likes a matchstick house right now, but everything they’ve done has a purpose. It’s not easy to change a project like this. He has to bite his tongue to not curse, because whether he likes it or not he’s just the the foreman on this project- he in a way - works for Harry Styles and his client. 

“What are your thoughts?” He growls and he knows he sounds a bit gruff when the smirk diminishes on Harry’s face.

“Uh, well,” Harry grabs his side bag and pulls out his blueprints in the bag. He grabs Niall by the wrist and drags him over to a worktable to lay it out. “Mr. Azoff had some thoughts about the entry way. He would like to remove this wall here and then he would also like to add a waterfall here, here, and here.”  

Niall watches where he points and he can already feel his blood start to boil. This day is officially going down hill. He takes a deep breath and counts to ten. Also who the fuck needs three waterfalls, in an entryway no less?

“Mr. Styles,” he takes another deep breath because it does no good to kill the messenger; or that’s what he tells himself anyway. “Harry. We can’t just remove that wall- it’s a load-bearing wall. If that’s what he wants to do we would need to add a steel beam, from here to here to account for it.” He points to the blueprints drawing a line with his finger, “That would add an additional five to seven thousand pounds to construction cost. If you want to do a waterfall we would need to submit the plans to the city and change the building permit. We could do it but it would cause a time delay of up to two weeks.” Niall sighs and takes in Harry’s disappointed look. It doesn’t matter how annoying Harry is- he hates disappointing his clients.  

“I wasn’t sure if there was anything that you could do about it to rush it maybe?” Harry asks. “But my other thought was that I think I can talk him into moving the waterfall outside- to make it more of a landscaping feature and maybe just adding a water feature inside but he seems really intent on making that wall disappear.” And this is why it’s so hard to be annoyed with Harry. He’s cocky, arrogant, and makes Niall’s life hell but he  _ gets  _ it or at least he seems too,  _ sometimes _ . He seems to know that he drives Niall nuts coming in here to change things- but it never seems to stop him. They both have a really annoying client that can’t make up their mind about what they want their dream house to look like.

“I can make the wall disappear, I can get a steel beam out here that won’t massively delay construction.  We can definitely add a fountain without having to get the building permit changed as long as its under 500 litres of water.” Niall offers, that ironically is something he has run into before.  

“Okay!” Harry’s smirk is back in place and Niall hates  _ hates  _ giving in to Harry every time. But his reputation as a builder is on the line and he won’t let Bobby down. Getting this project was huge for them and it took Niall years of earning Bobby’s trust to get him to lead a project of this caliber. “I’m sure I can talk him into it. I just need to find the right fountain.” Harry’s optimism is almost contagious but Niall knows that he’s going to be here in another week changing something else, so it’s hard to stay positive- even though Niall is far from a negative person.

“Here.” Niall points to a place on the blueprint, “You need to talk him into putting it here.” Harry gives Niall an intense look before he grabs a pencil and marks the place with an ‘X.’

“I will do my best. See you soon, Niall.” Harry’s gone before he knows it. When he looks back at the site more men are staring at him instead of working. 

“Get back to work!” He yells, “Just not on this fucking wall.” He points to the one already partially framed in, “God-damned open concept.” 

He spends the next hour on the phone arranging a steel beam and delivery and setting his client back almost five thousand pounds. 

His thoughts go back to the designer. They met almost six months ago and at first he was charmed by bright green eyes and his dimpled smiled. Until it became obviously clear that Harry landed his job because it was his mum’s company. He seemed to have a barely working knowledge of reading blueprints and seems more worried about fashion than safety on a construction site. And it shouldn’t annoy him but Harry is happy all the time- even when coming in to ruin Niall’s day. Can’t the lad show a little bit of sympathy? Any at all?  Plus he drives a Range Rover and Niall has no idea why that annoys him so much.

Since they started the Azoff family estate he’s seen Harry almost every week- and every time it was bad news. It started with small things; it was- adding this- moving that- oh and can they run a keg from the basement? Of course they  _ can _ but they worked on the design for almost three months before Niall was even interviewed for the job. They only broke ground a few weeks ago and since then its been change after change. Niall’s normal optimism and good cheer are out the window and he does his best not to take it out on his crew. 

It’s not like they don’t get it though. They see Harry come on the site with his cocky grin and man bag full of edited blueprints and they all scatter to the corners to hide while still trying to watch sparks fly with every confrontation. All Niall wants is to get through a week-  _ one week- _ without seeing Harry Styles on his construction site. That’s all he wants.

But the next week he’s back in black wide leg trousers and a see-through white shirt talking about moving stairways. Niall’s not even sure if he remembers what the entire conversation was about because all he remembers are Harry’s tattoos peeking out from under his shirt.

The week after that it’s a black button up shirt with mustard yellow pants covered with ships, that happen to do wonders for his arse- if Niall was looking because he’s not- because now they are adding levels onto the back deck and a walkway with a gazebo for a view of the lake.

The next week it’s red pants with a black velvet floral pattern on them that cling to his muscled thighs drawing Niall’s eye but his thoughts of those thighs quickly disappear because now they’re adding a second laundry room on to the second floor. 

Every week is something new… and every week his headache- named Harry Styles- gets worse and worse. 

\----

“That won’t work.” Harry tells him firmly.

“Why not? I’m the client; this is my dream house, I’m paying a lot to get this house how I want it!” Jeff’s voice only slightly raises, he’s a powerful man used to getting his way, but luckily he and Harry are somewhat friends so he can be blunt.

“I know, but you approved the plans for a two story house. At this point in time we cannot add another story, so maybe tell me why you want that third story and we can work with that.” Harry tells him sitting behind his desk, the blueprints rolled out in front of him. He’s put up with a lot of crazy antics from Jeff but this would be impossible- well maybe not impossible, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to have to be the one to tell Niall. 

“Well, my soon to be mother in law… she plans to visit  _ a lot _ . I want her to have her own space so she doesn’t bother us as much.” Jeff, his client has been a pain in his arse since day one, by far one of his most challenging clients, but also a really good friend of his from when he went to school in California; that’s probably the only reason he came to Harry and his mum. But he is right- they are paying a lot of money to get this house done and only a portion of that comes back to Harry.  

“So you need a private space for your mother- in- law.” He sums up and now the third floor makes a lot more sense but he has a better idea. 

“Oh and can we add a firepit?” Harry thinks as he’s shifting the prints to the ones showing the outside of the building and looking over the acres they have sitting right on the lake. It’s a huge lot in a gated area someone deciding selling off acres of their own land to pay off personal debt. 

“I’m sure we can- as always it’s a matter of price. But I have a different idea for you to consider. You have the land… have you considered a small cottage for your mother-in-law or guests? It can connect to the house via walkway and that way you both have your privacy?” Harry suggests and by the way Jeff’s eyes light up he knows that he’s found a solution that he likes better than adding a third floor. 

“That is a great idea.” Jeff agrees, “I’ll have Glenne come in and talk with you about it. She knows a lot more about her mother’s taste.”

“Okay, so we will add that on as an additional project, so it will be seperate from this house. We will continue working on the main house first and then next week you and Glenne can come out and walk the property and see where you want have the mother-in-laws cottage, and I’ll talk with the foreman to see his thoughts on the best idea for the backyard.” And there was his excuse to see Niall this week- he was still looking for one.

“I love it.” Harry ushers Jeff out of his office and then drops down into his chair… he can’t help the smile that covers his face. He really can’t wait to tell Niall about this. There is something about the Irishman… Harry doesn’t know what it is for sure. He gets an absurd amount of glee seeing the other lad fight to not yell at him. He also gets a strange amount of glee from wearing whatever he can to make sure that Niall’s eyes stayed glued on him, something that also seems to annoy the grumpy Irishman. Harry wouldn’t go as far to say that he’s a tease, but he certainly does enjoy teasing Niall. 

He hasn’t been on the site yet this week so maybe it is time to head that way- besides he doesn’t want Niall to get too comfortable; he wore his sparkling gold shirt today- it’d be a shame for Niall not to see it.  

It’s only about a 30 minute drive to the house and even Harry’s surprised by the progress that’s been made everytime he comes by. He changes into the steel toed boots he purchased after Niall yelled at him on his first visit. Then he stops by the small work trailer, stopping to grab a hard hat. He’s careful when he walks into the house, there is a temporary door on the front and when he walks in the majority of the sheetrock and drywall is installed, taped, and mudded; the walls smooth and ready for finish.

The entry way has the fitting for the small fountain and then on either side is a slightly curved staircase.  As he walks back past the stairwells into the main part of the house he can’t help but think that Jeff made a good call by taking out the wall, and Niall did a fantastic job of hiding the beam so it can’t even be seen.  

Speaking of… he finds Niall in the kitchen and he can’t help but take a moment to stop and watch the other lad in action. He’s in his normal apparel- hard hat, denim jeans that cling tight to the curve of his arse and accentuate his thin legs; tool belt low on his hips, hammer pulling the left side down; the navy shirt is pulled tight across his shoulders- orange vest doing nothing to hide the definition in his back and for some reason the fact he’s covered in drywall dust- as he marks in the dimensions for the kitchen cabinets- just makes him seem that much more attractive. The other lad is completely into his work and Harry hates to startle him, even though he almost always does. There is something about watching him work...

“Niall?” He prompts, smiling a bit when he jumps. He’s quick to turn around and Harry is still startled by how blue his eyes are. He swears they see right through him every time. 

“Mr. Styles… Harry,” Niall’s gotten better at calling him by his name but it took numerous attempts

to get him to call him that. For as much as he loves annoying Niall he wants them to get along, “uh what can I do for you?” Niall slides his notes and pencil into his back pocket and gives Harry his full attention.

“Well, nothing crazy, I just wanted to stop in and check on the progress and let you know that we’re planning a walk through with the owners next week.”  Harry smiles, “Everything looks great here though- you’ve made great progress. Did we already talk about the gazebo?” Harry asks waiting for the spark in Niall’s eye- because yes they did and Niall grumbled about having to rework the entire deck- granted it wasn’t even framed in yet.

“Yes,” and there it is that grumpy yet professional response that Harry always gets. Niall is always polite and  _ always  _ professional, but Harry  _ knows  _ that when Niall’s looking at him it’s not always professional. He’s caught the other lad staring at him, more than once, those blue eyes buring onto Harry’s skin sending tingles down his spine. He just wishes he could get a better feel for Niall and if he’s  _ really  _ interested. 

Either way they are both stuck on this project for a few more weeks- he can’t  _ do  _ anything about it yet- but he can picture it- and he’s pictured those lean legs wrapped around his waist more than once. 

“I thought so. Can I talk to you a bit about the backyard and landscaping? I may also have another side project for you to bid out?” Harry loves watching him in times like this, where he’s obviously frustrated, but still gives Harry his full attention.

“Yeah, o’course.” Niall walks through the rest of the kitchen into the dining room and out the opening where the french doors will be. Harry can’t help but let his hand fall to Niall’s lower back as he asks his opinion on where they fire pit should be, then he brings it up… the mother-in-law’s cottage.

“What the fuck? Exactly how much money do these people have?” Niall asks then snaps his jaw shut most likely regretting the outburst.

“Well they have plenty. That’s what they keep telling me anyway, that money isn’t a problem.” Harry assures him, “So where would we be able to build it?” Harry asks, looking down at Niall from where the two are standing side by side observing the back end of the lot that ends at the lake. 

“What size are you thinking?” Niall asks and he seems to deflate and while that wasn’t what Harry wanted, he does really want his opinion. 

“Small, just a kitchen, living area, and bedroom with master bath maybe a second half bath off the living area, 85 square meters maybe? The good news is that the fiancé  would be in charge and she’s much more… decided in what she likes.” Harry tells him.

“Well that doesn’t sound so bad. If I remember the water mapping, maybe what you want to do is this….” Niall walks him through a change of the backyard with a deck that has stairs that lead down to a lower deck with a fire pit, then a short walkway to to the gazebo and then from there two walkways; one to the cottage and one to the lakefront. Niall’s using his hands a lot almost like he’s trying to sketch it out right in front of them. But he’s so good with his words he doesn’t need to. 

“I love it!” And he does- he can  _ see  _ it in his head, “I’ve got to go. I have to get that all on paper before I forget it. And don’t worry about the visit next week, Jeff and Glenne will love it and your construction site is always well kept and I will make sure they have boots and hardhats and… I’ve got to go!”  

Normally Harry would stay and tease Niall, but he doesn’t want to lose the image in his head right now. 

By the next week when he brings Jeff and Glenne out, the crew is working on the stone front and landscaping and when they walk in the house has really taken shape- only the finishes are missing- which Harry knows is still a lot of work. He can’t seem to find Niall right away, but finally finds him in the master bedroom giving one of his men a dressing down apparently, but he stops abruptly when he catches Harry out of the corner of his eye- and he knows that he’s looking at his grey plaid pants and black shirt- a more conservative look for him but Harry always makes sure to look good for Niall. 

“Hey, the owners are here, do you have time to chat?” He can also say that he’s never really seen Niall nervous before. The man has always been insanely confident even thought Harry would often describe him as grumpy.   

“Uh, yeah, I can do that.” Niall wipes his hands on his jeans and follows Harry to where he left Jeff and Glenne. He oversees the introductions watching as Niall greets them with a cheerful smile and firm handshake. He can’t help but be a little jealous… he wants to see that smile aimed at him a little more often. As they walk through the entire project Niall is quick to answer questions, and listens carefully as Glenne and Harry discuss finishes. He can feel the nerves rolling off the other lad as they finally make it to the backyard and Harry pulls up the digital rendering that he created after chatting with Niall last week. 

“So after Jeff and I spoke last week when we first talked about the onsite cottage, I came to speak with Niall and he suggested this.” The 3D rendering he created allows Jeff and Glenne to move the tablet around to show an almost realistic picture of what the backyard would look like. 

He can feel Niall’s gaze on him and when he looks over the other man looks a bit shocked- and he already knows why. Harry may have put a lot of time into putting that rending together, but it was still Niall’s initial idea; and Harry wants his clients to know that.

“I love it!” Glenne is the first to speak looking over at the two of them off to the side, “You’ll be building the cottage right?” Glenne is looking right at Niall and the Irishman just looks at Harry before answering. 

“I believe it will have to be contracted out as a separate job so Harry’s firm will want to reach out to the main office about that. I’m really not sure what our schedule looks like right now. I live project to project.”  Niall tells her- and Harry knows he’s not trying to play hard to get- they haven’t really gotten that far.

“Well you’ll have to do it. I love how the house looks so far and now that we’ve finally gotten Jeff to stop changing things,” She glares jokingly at her fiancé, “things should go much smoother. I’m in charge of everything from here on out.”

“I wasn’t changing everything.” Jeff mutters and to Harry it almost seems like he’s pouting, “I just wanted our dream house to be perfect.” 

“And it will be.” Harry jumps in before they can start to bicker, he’s seen it more than once and he’d like them to have a pleasant car ride back. “And I’ll have my mom reach out to Niall’s firm right away to see if we can get him and his crew to do the cottage add-on.” Harry looks back at him and the look on Niall’s face is thoughtful.  

“We’ll wait a bit if needed, but it would be nice, consistency wise to have the same builder for both and we already know what to expect from Niall and his team. Niall, may I have a word in the kitchen?”  Glenne asks.

“Of course.” The two of them walk back in the house leaving Jeff and Harry on the back exposure. 

“Do you like it?” Harry finally asks.  

“I love it and everything, it’s coming together really well. And it looks like you chose the right company to partner with.”  Jeff notes watching his wife and Niall talk in the kitchen, Niall taking notes and every once pointing out different things- like he’s explaining different things to Glenne.

“My mum’s very pleased. She plans on working on an ongoing contract with Horan Builders. She’s been very impressed with everything from the office details to the foreman. They are one of the best builders she’s ever worked with.” Harry’s not going to mention that  _ he’s  _ the one who pushed for this firm, not his mum and he’s certainly not going to mention that it had more to do with his attraction to the owners son than their work portfolio. Luckily Niall turned out to be much more than just a pretty face. 

Harry ends up walking both Jeff and Glenne back to their car and then goes back in the house in search of Niall. He finds him in the kitchen scoring something out on the wall. It must have been what he and Glenne were discussing. 

“So that went well.” Harry says, announcing his presence. Niall turns sharply and with the noise in the house, all the drills and footsteps he’s not surprised that Niall didn’t hear him.

“Yeah, I’m glad it went so smooth, um, they seem to like everything?” He sounds hesitant.

“I knew they would. Even with all the changes you’re mostly on schedule. The week of rain put you behind more than Jeff’s indecisions.” Harry tells him. 

“That was a bit of a set back but we can’t really control the weather.” Niall doesn’t really seem to be making eye contact instead he keeps looking down.

“Do you think you’ll be able to come back to do the cottage?” Harry asks. But based off of Glenne’s comments they’re willing to wait until Niall is available- they love how the house is turning out that much.

“Uh, that’s really up to Bobby, but I mean- I don’t really like to leave a project unfinished.” Niall finally looks at him. “And I mean thanks for like talking me up today- you didn’t have to.”   

Harry’s pretty sure he’s giving Niall a blank look because  _ really… _ “Well if you look good, then I look good and we’re a team aren’t we?” Harry can’t help but ask.  

Those blue eyes of Niall’s are looking at him,  _ through  _ him and he wishes he knew Niall better to know what it was he was actually thinking.

“Yeah, we are.”  

\----

“Ok, so what’s going on?” Niall snaps his gaze away from his pint and looks over to his right. Tommo’s giving him a very pointed look.   
  
“What do you mean?” He questions, but Louis’ got that look in his eye- like he knows something already.   
  
“Well, I read your write up today, I know the owners and Styles were on site today. Why are you not bitching like you normally do?” That’s the one thing he hates himself for daily, getting Louis a position in his da’s main office. Granted the guy is insanely organized- even if he’s the only one who can find anything- and he’s great with people, but right now Niall doesn’t really want to talk about any of it.

“Why would I be? It went great.” Niall tries to distract him.   
  
“Yeah, but anytime Styles is on site you get annoyed and rant about him all night… from his flashy clothes to his stupid man purse and his inability to read a blueprint. Today… nothing...nada.” Louis flares his hands out in front of him like he’s trying to prove his point.   
  
“Well, he didn’t change anything- I mean the client’s fiancé had a couple things, but they were minor and they weren’t coming in and moving fucking stairwells and adding waterfalls today. So yeah, I don’t have anything to be annoyed with.” He hopes that’s enough to deflect Louis but really he should know better.   
  
“You get annoyed by his presence alone.” Louis points out. “C’mon, what happened today to make you less of a dick?”

“I’m not a dick, but I don’t think he is either?” It comes out more as a question mainly because today was weird. He’s never had an architect or designer give him credit for one of his ideas. But Harry had no issues telling Jeff and Glenne today that the backyard layout had been Niall’s idea.    
  
Cocky, arrogant designers don’t give other people credit, but Harry did.   
  
“I just may have been a bit wrong. I mean he’s flashy and cocky and he smirks way too much but he had my back today with the client meeting. I’ve had other people throw me under the bus when a client was there but he was actually just pretty cool about it?”

“You know what I think?” And yes Niall does know exactly what he thinks.   
  
“Yes I already know and you can shut up already!” He hisses because he really doesn’t want to hear it,  _ again _ .   
  
“You two really just need to shag. He’s teasing you- you’re getting frustrated. I mean it could explode in the worst way or the best way and I vote for best.” Louis raises a brow and Niall can feel his blush.   
  
He may have been a bit too honest with Tommo in the beginning, sharing with his long time best friend about his instant attraction to the other lad. Then he realized that Harry was nothing more than a cocky arrogant mama’s boy that got to where he is because of his connections.    
  
Now he’s starting to wonder if he is wrong on all counts. Sure Harry works at his mum’s firm, but he works for his da. He just knows that he had to work damn hard to earn his place in his da’s company.  Maybe Harry had to do the same? Maybe Harry has had to work just as hard to get into his mum’s good graces as he has to work his way up with Bobby?   
  
He can’t help but think that he may have  jumped to far too many conclusions and now he’s left not knowing what he’s made up in his head and what Harry’s actually told him… Did Harry ever really tell him anything anyway? Did Niall even ask? Fuck- he’s a horrible person.   
  
“And no shagging isn’t going to solve anything.” Niall states pulling himself out of his head.   
  
“But you want to!” Louis sings-songs back at him.   
  
“Not going to happen. This account-  _ this house  _ is too big of deal to my da. And the clients want me to come back and build a guest house on the land. So even after it’s done there isn’t hope. My Dawould have my arse if I was shaggin’... my boss basically.”  Niall drops his head down onto the table and pushes his pint away from him.   
  
He feels like such a twat.   
  
He tilts his head over when Louis elbows his shoulder. “Hey Niall… isn’t that him?”   
  
He snaps his head straight up and sure enough walking in the door is Harry Styles. He looks different than he’s used to seeing, just brown boots, black skinny jeans, and a grey t-shirt. He’s never seen the other boy look so casual… or so good for that matter. He does his best to stop that train of thought but then finds it just derails more- because what his Harry doing here? Here as in the local mostly quiet- during the week anyway- gay bar?

He drops his head back down on to his forearms and sighs because this in a way makes things worse?  Now he’s pretty sure it’s not a question but a fact- He and Harry are most likely  _ very compatible _ .

It doesn’t help that Louis brought him here, even in the middle of the week to see if he could find a sexy  _ distraction. _

“Nialler, this is great opportunity! We’ll just invite him over and you can get to know him and end up seeing if you really were being a twat the whole time.” He can hear Louis seriousness in his tone- as well as his sarcasm.

“That’s an awful idea.” Niall mutters without raising his head. 

“Well, he seems to think it’s a good one. He’s headed this way and I didn’t say a thing.” Niall raises his head and sure enough when he looks up, Harry is already on his way over green eyes locking on to Niall’s.

“Well, you look like you had a bad day. Funny enough I thought it went well.” Harry says, sliding into the booth across from Niall. He nods at Louis- they’ve met a couple time of course with Louis working in the main office. For all that Harry looks different- Niall doesn’t- he’s in his normal skinny jean and navy top similar to what he wears to work everyday- sans his orange vest and hard hat, his hair washed and soft hanging down over his forehead. He wishes he had worn something else now- something dressier maybe that would make him look different to Harry, like how the other lad looks different to him now. 

“No, no, it was good.” He brushes his hand through his hair, pulling it off his forehead, trying to do something with it. “You look normal.” And Niall instantly wants to bite his tongue because he’s being an arse again and it doesn’t take Louis’ elbow into his ribs for him to know that. Harry seems to take it in good measure though, looking down at his clothes before looking back up at Niall and raising an eyebrow.

“I mean you look good.” Niall corrects himself .

“You mean I don’t normally?” Harry asked and Niall doesn’t really know him well enough to be able to tell if he’s actually offended or if he’s giving Niall a hard time. He hopes to god its just Harry being a dick.

“No, no, you always look good- I just mean you look less… flashy?” And oh god he just needs to shut up now. He can’t even blame it on being drunk- he’s only had three beers. 

“Well, you did tell me that I needed to be in high visibility attire when I come to the worksite. So really, I just dress like that for you.” Niall’s mouth drops open at Harry’s smirk- because - well.

“That’s not what high vis means- it means that you’re supposed to be in a bright shirt- ya know? Neon yellow? Orange? Like my vest.”  Niall stammers out because  _ what? _

“Are you saying my version of high vis doesn’t work? I mean your whole crew knows the second I step on site.” Harry’s smirk is still there as he takes a drink of his beer and Niall knows at this point that Harry is in no way offended by his earlier statements. And while the other lad might only be smirking his green eyes are laughing. 

“Not the way it’s supposed to!” Niall stutters out because he is now getting the feeling that for the past few months he’s been getting played.

“I mean it works right?” Harry asks, eyebrow lifting and Niall is ignoring Louis’ silent laughter beside him. “And I like the way that you look at me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Niall can honestly say that nothing about this conversation is going like he thought.  Harry’s green eyes are still laughing, but not at him- it doesn’t feel like Harry’s talking down to him, it seems more like the other lad is flirting- in that cocky arrogant way of his.     

“Yeah, like you can’t decide whether you want to kill me or kiss me. I vote for the second.” Harry tells him ending in a whisper.

“I- I,” Niall stutters not even sure what to say at this point. 

“On that note, I should head out.” Louis downs the rest of his beer and then pushed at Niall so he’ll let him out of the booth.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was really just coming over to say hello.” Harry rushes out grabbing his beer and looking like he’s getting ready to stand.

“Oh you aren’t interrupting. I need to get home to El anyway.” Niall shuffles out of the booth to let Louis out, but not before sending him a glare. He knows what Louis is trying to do. The whole time he’s been saying that Niall should be shagging Harry instead of being annoyed with him.  _ ‘Use all that tension for something good, right?’  _ is what he kept saying. 

“Really, you aren’t.” Niall tells him not really liking the way Harry looks a bit uncomfortable. He stands at the edge of the booth waiting as Louis shuffles out. 

“But I’ll be seeing you soon right? To figure out the contract on the guest house?” Louis asks and Harry nods.

“It will be either me or my mum, she does more of the contracts though. I just work on projects. But, yeah, the project will be mine for sure. And they’ve requested Niall so that good!” He does sound excited about it.

“So we’ll be working together again soon.” Louis looks over at Niall and winks, but he just glares back at him. It’s not like he can actually shag a work colleague- that’s unprofessional… right?

“Hopefully very soon!” Harry tacks on enthusiastically.  

Louis finishes his goodbyes and slides out the door with a backward wave and Niall settles back into the booth. For a moment there is just awkward silence. 

“So what brings you here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before?” Niall asks- and he’s well aware that it sounds like a pick up line- but he really is just mostly curious.

“Uh, Mitch, the new bartender, is a really good friend of mine and he said it can get pretty quiet during the week so I told him I’d come by to keep him company.”

“Hmm.” Niall hums noncommittally as he looks over at the bartender who does indeed look  _ very  _ bored.

“But then I saw you and I decided I’d rather keep you company.” Harry smiles when Niall chokes on his beer. 

“Are you okay?” Harry’s reaching a hand out like he was going to try to help but Niall raises a hand quick and waves it as he coughs. 

“Yeah, yeah, fine..” Niall takes a quick drink of his pint.

“And what brings you here?” Harry asks politely, but obviously curious.

“Uh, my flat is right around the corner.”

“So you come here often?”

“Every Wednesday.” And well shit, maybe he shouldn’t share his routine like that, “Just- um- so the owners were happy today huh?” Niall goes for the drastic change in conversation so that he can get away from the direction that conversation is going. God- he’s so bad at flirting anyway…

“Yes, and I was serious. Glenne wants you to do the cottage. Luckily she’s not the one who has been requesting the thousands of changes. Jeff was the one that couldn’t make up his mind. Did I tell you he wanted to add a third floor just a couple weeks ago?” Harry takes a couple sips of beer waiting for Niall to respond. Harry’s eyes never seem to leave Niall’s and he can feel his cheeks getting red from the constant undivided attention. So it takes a moment for what Harry said to sink in...

“What the hell? Like- no- the structure is done? The roof is on; you can’t just add a floor!” Niall can feel his blood heating at the thought and it’s enough to at least take his mind off the green eyes focused solely on him. 

“Yeah, I figured that would be your reaction… so that’s when I thought up the cottage idea instead.” Harry tells him. “I’m glad we figured something out together.” And that brings Niall back to today- and his change of heart thinking that he might be wrong about Harry Styles. 

“Uh yeah,” Niall is pretty sure he has never felt this oddly disoriented by someone before. It’s becoming pretty obvious that Harry, while he may be cocky, isn’t the total arsehole he originally thought he was. 

“We work pretty well together-”  Harry pauses and he seems to be waiting for Niall to respond.

“It’s gotten better,” He agrees, “It was a bit rocky at first.” because it was- he’d never yelled at someone he barely knew about safety on a worksite before; most people knew better.

“I think we should see if we work well off the site. Like this- now- this is fun right?” Harry asks and he has a questioning looking in his eye. But Niall has to be sure- so he takes that risk and steps right off the ledge. 

“Are you flirting with me?” It comes out soft, a bit less confident that Niall would have hoped but it makes the other lad smile.

“Why yes Niall, I am definitely flirting with you.” Harry’s smile is fun and flirty and Niall finds himself falling a little in love with those dimples. 

“Oh,” for some reason though Niall didn’t expect that response. He thought it was his imagination. Harry is so far above dating a construction foreman. He’s classy, and posh- all things that Niall really isn’t. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“What? Flirting? Or the fact that I want to take you out, like maybe on a date, and learn more about you?”  Harry prompts.

“All of it?” Niall tells him looking him in the eye. “It’s not that I’m opposed to you, or dating, or like flirting in general…” Niall stops and just shakes his head because those green eyes in this lighting are sending sparks down his spine and keeping him disoriented. He needs to get refocused, he had a point- an important one, “Just- we work together. And we are going to continue working together- at least for a little while- and my Da would kill me if I acted unprofessional in any way. I’m pretty sure that dating a co-worker is pretty high up there.” Niall tells him. 

It’s true- his Da would kill him. But the idea of going out on a date with Harry is also oddly appealing? He wants to know more about him than all the fiction that Niall created in his head. Now more than ever he’s sure that the Harry he created in his head is not the same Harry that is sitting across from him now.  

“Ahh, I see. So I have to work on charming your dad then?” Harry smiles undeterred. 

“NO!” Oh god, no, his Da wouldn’t know what to think.

“I can be very charming when I want to be, Niall. You’ll see.” Harry slides out of the booth, finishes his beer and then gives Niall a very suggestive wink. “I’ll see you soon.” He turns and walks back toward the bar, setting his glass down and then waves at his friend. Before he turns to the exit he looks back over his shoulder like he  _ knows  _ that Niall is watching him and sends him a wave before walking out the door.  

Niall drops his head back to the table. He can’t help but thinking that if Harry was unbearable before he’s going to be even more unbearable now.

\----

Harry takes care walking into the main office of Horan Construction. He’s a bit surprised that his mum is letting him take lead on this, but hell, if she’s going to give a little he’ll take all that he can.

He stuck with a black jacket, slacks, and a white shirt, classic. He’s here for business, but he’s also here to charm Bobby Horan. 

Once he gets into Niall’s da’s good graces, hopefully he can get in with Niall’s.

Talking with Niall at the bar was enough for Harry to finally be able to really tell that- yes- Niall is interested in him, even if he doesn’t want to be. But it was also blatantly obvious that he takes his job very seriously, so Harry has to take it just as seriously.

When he finally gets into the office he’s not surprised by the face that greets him.

“Louis.” He greets the other lad with a smile. 

“Harold. Welcome. What can we do for you?” Louis seems to also take his job pretty seriously. The posture and attitude is all a little different from last night and Harry can respect the professionalism.

“I am here for my mum, she had a meeting with Mr. Horan at 11:00.” Harry does his best to calm his nerves, because even aside from fancying this man’s son this is still a pretty big deal for him. His mum is slowly but surely loosening her grip on the reins and letting Harry dip his toes into more and more of the family business. He’s finally starting to  _ really  _ prove himself to her.

Louis shows him back to a modest office with an even more modest man sitting behind a desk. There are pictures scattered around the office, of family and finished projects, awards, and ribbon cuttings; obviously a man proud of both his family and his career. 

Harry takes a very quick liking to ‘ _ call me Bobby’  _ and Bobby seems to have the same feelings towards Harry, if the two and half hours he spends there are any indication. They run the gambit of conversations from work, to golf, to midnight mass christmas traditions. He learns a little bit about Niall too; how he ended up dropping out of college when Bobby had to have back surgery, to take over the brunt of the manual labor, and Bobby getting stuck in the office side of the business; which he’s slowly learned to enjoy. 

It’s a little after one when Harry gets out of the meeting with Bobby, and only because he had a lunch meeting that he had to rush out the door for. He left Harry with a handshake and a follow up appointment for next week with their lawyers to go over the contracts.

“So that went well.” Louis states the obvious. His desk seems messy, but even Harry can tell that there is a certain organization to it- the kind that probably only Louis understands.

“Yeah, he put me in for next week with the law team to finalize everything. So I’m going to head back to our office to start finalizing all the plans. But I thought I might go to the site and check in with Niall first.”  Harry leans across the desk as Louis stands to file something in the cabinet behind him. He waits until the sharp eyed brunette turns around before asking. “Is there something I could bring Niall to help brighten his afternoon?”  

Harry’s fishing, and Louis seems to know it- the other lad just raising a single brow to question him. “Like, a coffee or a tea?” Harry explains. Maybe if he comes bearing gifts Niall will be a little bit more open to seeing him on his job site. 

“Well you can go dressed like that for one thing, maybe stop giving the man a heart attack, and wear an orange vest like your supposed to?”

“Well, I guess I can do that, but I was thinking something a little extra?” Harry explains.

“Oh, you mean like a gift? To try to get on his good side?”

“I’m on his bad side?” Harry asked innocently, still fishing for information.

“Don’t play dumb Styles, it’s not a good look.” But Louis is laughing at him.

“I’m not. Really.That first day was just a coincidence, but then he was so strict about the boots and the hard hat that well, I’ll admit, I enjoyed shocking him a bit too much… hence the coffee or tea?” Harry prompts hoping for a little give.

“Listen. Harry, lad, you seem like a good guy, but really Niall doesn’t have time for games. He has worked hard to prove himself here, and to Bobby, and he’s not going to risk it all for a shag… so what’s your deal?” And Harry really can appreciate Louis protectiveness- it’s good to have great friends like that.

“I just want to get to know him better. Last night seemed like we were off to a good start, but he shut me down pretty quickly.” Harry tells him, because he saw signs of interest last night; before last night if he’s honest with himself. He loves the way Niall’s all business but he also really loves the way that Niall’s eyes feel on him. He does want to get to know the other lad better. He knows that he annoys Niall- hell he even did part of it on purpose, but now he wants to move past that games.

“Let me tell you something about Niall Horan. Lad was born premature, and ended up having a hole in his heart- spent the first five years in and out of hospitals and even though it wasn’t his fault, his parents marriage didn’t make it. His first step dad spent the next 10 years he was married to his mum making him feel like a burden, so when he could he ended up moving in with Bobby. He scored a scholarship to college- engineering mind you- and then his Da ended up having an accident on site and Niall dropped outta school no questions asked and took on a job here. When my ma got cancer, he got me a job here when I couldn’t stay in school.  

“If you really want to know how you can get to know him better, prove to him you’re not just a pretty boy with a shoo in at your mum’s company. All you have to do is earn his respect.”

Harry can’t help but stay silent. That information is a little much to absorb, but it really does help to put the other lad in perspective. He can’t help but let out a sigh. “You make it sound easy.” Harry huffs, but in a way it makes sense. He knows that their first few meetings really didn’t go well, and maybe he shouldn’t have messed with Niall the way he did- with his flashy clothes, over the top attitude, and how in the beginning he’d played dumb just to spend more time with Niall. 

“It  _ is  _ easy, You’re obviously smart and hard working. Just make sure he sees it.” Louis goes to sit back at his desk.

“Well, thanks for the chat,” he adds the ‘ _ I guess.’  _ under his breath before adding on, “See you next week?” Harry asks.

“Of course, and tea, strong with three sugars.” Harry smiles but Louis really isn’t looking at him anymore focused much more intently on something on his desk.

“Thank you!”

Tea in hand he makes his way cautiously through the work site. It’s really amazing considering eight months ago it was just a plot of leveled land but now its a building, with walls, plumbing, and electricity. Niall has driven the project to stay on schedule, even with all of Jeff’s changes, and soon all the finishes will be going in and Harry will be walking through with Jeff and Glenne for the final punch list. 

He finds Niall in what will be the master bathroom- it’s a massive room with a soaker tub, huge tiled shower, dual vanity, and a steam room- overkill for a normal person- just right for Jeff and Glenne.

“Hey.” Just like normal, Niall starts with a stuttered ‘ _ Jesus’ _ as he turns around.

“Hi, Harry,” but unlike normal, Niall seems to be blushing, cheeks slightly pink. “Uh, what can I do for you?” He stops looking at Harry to clip his tape measure on his belt, but Harry knows that task doesn’t normally require his full attention, he’s seen him do it blindly many times before. 

“So, I had a meeting with your dad today. It went well. He’s on board for getting this project scheduled and working on something permanently between our companies. Something about bringing in a new guy or something for other projects.” Harry mentioned. 

“Yeah, he interviewed a guy, Bessie, I think?” Niall states, he turns to mess with the tile backsplash behind the mirrors. He seems to be avoiding Harry’s gaze.

“So, I was told you prefer tea in the afternoon over coffee.” Harry extends his hand with the still steaming hot tea, strong earl grey with three sugars. He hopes it suffices.

“Uh, yeah, but um why?” he reaches out tentatively and Harry makes it so their fingers brush just to see if it causes Niall’s cheeks to pink up again- it does.

“Peace offering?”

“Are we at war?” Niall ask, with a tilt of his head, blue eyes curious, but Harry catches his quick up and down glance as Niall takes in his much more conservative, at least for him, black suit pants, and the orange vest he has over the white button up- suit jacket left in the car.

“No, but I’d like to be someone that you don’t hate seeing on your jobsite.” Harry tells him honestly.

“Listen Harry, it’s not like I hate you, I don’t. It’s just every time you’ve showed up it’s never good news and you’re always so fucking happy about it. It just drives mefuckin’ nuts.” Niall really does just sound exasperated which is better than angry. 

“I'm sure, but in my defense most of that was- is- Jeff not me. I feel like I should tell you though, this is my first big project. My mum has been slow to hand over any control on any of the projects I've worked on in the past. The only reason I got  _ this  _ one is because I know Jeff and Glenne from when I went to college in California. This project is my first chance to prove myself to everyone. I may have allowed them to make a lot of last minute changes but you've made sure that this project has been a success. From what I understand we are both trying to prove the same things. That we’re more than just our parents employees, we're their partners. You're helping me prove that to my mum and I hope I've helped you prove that to your dad.

“I guess that's why I felt the need to bring tea?” He concludes  with a shrug - he doesn't really know what else to say at this point.

“Well thank you, for the tea, and for that little bit of honesty.” He watches carefully as Niall takes are sip, of the tea. “Hmm, just right.” And it does feel like peace- Niall’s not clenching his jaw in annoyance, the look Harry is most used to seeing and there is a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Good. So is there anything I need to talk to the owners about?” Harry asks.

“Actually, yes, there is.” It turns out to be one of the most productive visits they've ever had. 

\----

Harry starts bringing him tea when he visits his job site now, but it’s when Niall starts looking forward to the tea and the visits that he realizes that he’s in much more trouble than he’d thought.

The last month has been a tedious month of peace. Not that it’s hard to keep the peace, not really. For some reason Harry’s choice of flashy strange clothes no longer bothered him- now that he knows more about Harry and his love for abstract fashion; though there was one day that he came in and Niall had to tell him that with the white ruffled shirt he looked like a pirate- which Harry responded with a drawn out ‘ _ heyyy’.  _ He decided not to mention that the black flared pants made his thighs and arse look amazing. Oddly enough he’s also started to think more about what he wears to work. Not that he’s being overly adventurous- but he has worn a couple patterned shirts to work- it’s no surprise Harry noticed and commented about how well they fit. 

What has actually made the last month more difficult is curbing the urge to flirt with Harry- or flirt back with Harry- because the green eyed charmer has no issues flirting with Niall. When Harry walks back off the work site he more often than not leaves Niall flustered and in a daze drinking his tea for a good twenty minutes. Luckily they crew hasn’t seemed to really catch on to anything- and he hopes they never do. He would never live it down.

It also doesn’t help that Harry has completely charmed his da. Bobby  _ loves  _ Harry.  

Over the last month his da’s been working with both Harry and his mum to work out a deal to work more projects hand in hand creating a more flawless experience for their customers, but that also means that Harry and Niall are most likely going to be working together a lot more and Niall’s becoming more and more unsure that his Da would actually disapprove of him dating Harry- in fact Bobby’s suggested it now more than once- enough that Louis has even overheard and almost laughed himself sick.

So now he’s not quite sure what to do…

On one hand it’s obvious that Harry is attracted to him, has been the entire time. Looking back; it’s equally as obvious that he’s not great at hiding his attraction to Harry either. Now that he’s really gotten the chance to see the real Harry he knows that the cockiness that always rubbed him the wrong way, is just a front. The real Harry is smart, hard working, and also a dork- an irresistible combination for Niall. 

On the flip side, he’s not a fan of mixing business with pleasure. He’s never been a huge risk taker, he’s always run a bit more on the conservative side, but he can’t help but think it would be taking a risk. So the real questions is- is Harry worth the risk?

If his Da and Louis have any say then the answer is yes.

He can’t help but lean that way as well. It seems like each week Harry drops by the worksite, tea in hand, the conversation starts with the project - much more manageable with less changes- but quickly changes to music, movies, or even what they did over the weekend. Niall had to bite his tongue to keep himself from inviting Harry to karaoke night, but Niall’s lack of interest doesn’t stop Harry from inviting Niall to two separate parties and over to his house one night for a scrabble tournament, just the two of them. And he wants to say yes- every time- but he doesn’t. 

But he did invite Harry here; to the Azoff house; on a Friday evening because it’s mostly done, and Niall has his own punch list to go through but he wants another set of eyes. So instead of asking his Da or even Louis he called Harry because -well- even Niall knows it was an excuse to see him. 

He waits for Harry at the entryway, the sun is just starting to sink in the sky, but there’s still enough light that they will be able to walk around the house to approve the landscaping. The crew has gone home for the day - knowing that they will have a huge list to detail on Monday before they can call the project officially finished by the end of next week.

Niall’s thinking of folding- maybe giving in and asking Harry if he wants to do a celebratory dinner or drinks next Saturday. He can already imagine the cocky grin on his face- but it doesn’t make him angry anymore, it makes him feel a different kind of hot.

He stands up straight when he sees Harry’s SUV turn down the drive. He dressed with care tonight. He’s still in his work boots obviously, but his tool belt is missing from his hips. Instead he’s just in dark wash skinny jeans and a tucked in white t-shirt, both a little nicer than he would normally consider to a jobsite on a work day. His hard hat is missing and he even took the time to do his hair. He's not the slightest bit ashamed. These jeans do wonders for his arse and the rolled sleeves on the t-shirt make his arms look amazing. 

If he’s going to fold he’s going to make it impossible for Harry to say no.

Harry looks a bit different when he steps out of his car- it takes him back to when he ran into Harry in the bar just a month ago. He’s wearing white skinny jeans and a blue button up top with white polka dots on it. It’s only buttoned half way and he can see his tattoos through the semi-sheer material, he wants to learn those tattoos -memorize where they are and how they taste on his skin. Niall’s proud that Harry's still wearing his black steel toed boots. He still remembers the first time Harry came on site, donning yellow loafers, and he actually kicked him off the site until he came back in reasonable shoes, a hard hat, and high visibility attire. He still counts it as a win that he got two out of three. 

“Hey, you’re already doing walkthroughs- impressive.” Harry tells him meeting him at the door. “Sorry I didn’t bring tea since it was kinda short notice.”

“Short notice? I just called you this morning.” Niall laughs, it was the first thing he thought of this morning. 

“Well, I plan my days around your tea run. I was across town at a different project and I could have bought tea but it wouldn’t have been hot.” He actually looks a little guilty as he shrugs his shoulders.

“Harry, you don’t have to bring me tea every time you see me.” Niall tells him still smiling. “I mean it’s appreciated and everything but I don’t expect it.” Niall follows with, just so Harry does know that his kindness doesn’t go unnoticed. 

“I know, but I like the way it makes you blush…  _ every time. _ ” and there it is- that smirk that used to drive him nuts- his life might be a bit easier if it still did. 

“But, I don’t have anything to give you back and you won't let me pay you back...” Niall stammers always thrown off whenever Harry throws out a line like that because he never knows what to expect. Harry keeps him on his toes for sure. 

Harry just takes a big step closer and Niall can smell his cologne and mix of shampoo and hair product. “Well I can think of something you can give me.”

“Yeah- what's that.” He says with a confidence he doesn’t really feel. Harry is only a few inches taller than Niall but it makes it so that he has to look up at him. His green eyes are warm. 

“A thank you.” And Niall barks out a laugh, taking a step back and easing the growing tension, he’s been doing a lot of that over the last month or so. “What did you think I was going to say?” Harry asks innocently.

“I never know what you’re going to say.” Niall laughs again as he shakes his head. “C’mon, let’s start outside and then work our way back in. I want to see if you catch anything that isn’t on my list. Anything marked with blue tape is already on my list. So I guess just let me know what you think?” Niall shrugs.

Even though he knows that he’s using this more as an excuse to see Harry, he still can’t help but think its a great idea to walk through with him. Harry was the catalyst for all the changes in the project. If Niall missed anything Harry would most likely be the one to catch it. The last thing he wants is for Jeff or Glenne to come in and catch a mistake. Working out a partnership between his Da’s firm and Harry’s mum’s is the best way for both of them to make sure they have a steady flow of business. 

Harry is a bit silent as they start around the side of the house. His green eyes are actually pretty intense and scrutinizing as he walks the exterior. Niall finds himself a little nervous as they walk slowly around the east side of the house. Harry’s not really saying much, he points out a couple things, minor easy cosmetic things- Niall knows the big things are all inside the house.

When they finally get to the backyard, Harry stops in his tracks, “Wow. I had no idea it would look so good finished.” Niall was hoping the response would be a positive one; Harry had yet to see the backyard since most of the work was done since his last visit.

“Yeah, I’m glad they were willing to go with the expense of buying the more mature trees instead of the baby ones.” Niall finds himself going off on a tangent talking about landscaping, trees, and pressure treating, while Harry’s green eyes take in everything from the gazebo to the deck, to the walkway to the future mother-in-law’s cottage. 

“Niall it really looks great. It’s just like we imagined and they are going to love it.”  _ What we imagined… _  that reason right there is what changed the way that Niall thinks about Harry. This is  _ their  _ backyard. Harry climbs the stairs to go up to the back deck and Niall tries not to look at his arse when he follows him up but it’s a battle he loses. “Oh, the outdoor kitchen looks great.” Harry offers when they get to the top.  He jumps a bit at Harry’s laugh and looks over startled, “I don’t know how much they’ll actually use it but they wanted it.” The outdoor kitchen was one of the latest last minute add-ons.

“Yeah, I don’t know how much anyone really uses it. I know I would though, I love to grill.”

“Do you have one at your place?” Harry asks, eyes a light, and Niall knows why; it's really the first time he’s offering up personal information about himself  without an inquisition.

“No, I live in a flat, but I do have a little patio that I have a super small grill on- it does the job.” Niall says with a shrug of his shoulders. 

“Maybe you could grill for me sometime? I mean I like to cook too so maybe we could make an event of it. You grill the entree and I’ll do the rest.” Harry raises his eyebrows a couple time and gives Niall a suggestive look. 

“Maybe.” Niall says as he walks away taking in Harry’s shocked look, “C’mon, let’s finish the rest of the backyard.”

Harry seems to shift gears back to business quick enough walking through the rest of the backyard and getting back to the front door.  

“The sod still has to go down and the river rock,” Niall states obviously feeling a bit nervous about taking Harry inside even though he already saw it earlier this week. It’s at the point in the project where every couple of days it can look like a whole new house. “Ready to head in?” Niall asks. Harry nods and opens the door motioning Niall to head in first; when he does he feels Harry’s hand on his lower back and he can’t help the smile that hits his lips. It feels good.

“Well?” Niall asks, the dreaded water feature is in; Niall hates it, the house feels more like a lobby to hotel than a house to him, but he isn’t paid to have an opinion.

“ _ They  _ will love it. I on the other hand feel like I’m in a museum.” Harry laughs, part of Harry’s design team has already started coming in and working on hanging the Azoff’s art work and moving in their furniture. 

“Yeah, it’s not really my personal preference either. I’m more of a fan of hardwood over marble myself.” Niall shares.

“Yeah? What else are you a fan of?” Harry prompts. His eyes aren’t on Niall though instead they are doing what Niall asked and looking over the walls and floors for anything that might not be up to par. 

“In houses or in general?” 

“How about in a date?”

“Believe it or not I’m not really all that picky. All I need is good conversation and good sense of humor.” Niall shares.

“I have a great sense of humor, I’m really funny.” Harry counters.

“Your jokes are awful.” Niall laughs.

“You always laugh!” Harry tries to sound insulted but Niall doesn’t buy it.

“Yeah  _ because  _ they’re so awful.” Niall’s still laughing as they make their way down the hall side by side.  Harry knocks his hip in to Niall’s with a smile. 

“Stop being mean to me… words hurt ya know?” The banter continues back and forth as they make their way through the house. Every once in a while Harry turns serious as they find something that Niall’s overused eyes missed. He asks questions about some of the things that Niall had tape by shaking his head at Niall’s need to be an absolute perfectionist.

It takes them almost two hours to walk the whole property but part of that has to do with frequent stops filled with flirtatious banter. Harry seems more interested in that than walking the house with Niall, but either way Niall appreciates the second set of eyes. 

When they finally end up back at the front entryway, for the first time the silence is a little heavy. Niall’s at a little bit of a loss for what to say or even how to end the night. 

“You’re different today.” Harry finally says, “And it’s not just because you’re not wearing your hard hat.”

“Uh, what do you mean?” Niall has to ask just because he’s not really sure what part Harry picked up on; the part where he is finally being a bit more open with his answers or the fact that he can’t stop looking at him. Harry looks  _ really  _ good tonight.

“Well,” he draws out, “you’re actually flirting with me instead of just letting me epicly fail.” That’s one thing that he likes about Harry- at least he lays it out pretty honestly…

“You didn’t epicly fail. I noticed. I just ignored you.” Niall clarified with a smile, looking Harry in the eye. He looks happy, unlike those other times when he looked a little bit rejected and disappointed.

“But you aren’t ignoring me now.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Harry asks stepping closer, and just like earlier tonight it forces Niall to look up at him to keep eye contact.  

At that Niall is a bit at a loss. He’s still not exactly sure what changed over the last few weeks of finishing up the project. Maybe it was actually talking to Harry instead of getting instantly getting annoyed at his presence, or maybe it was his lame jokes and pick up lines, but what he goes with is, “Bobby loves you.”

Harry doesn't even try to hold back his laugh, “I told you I could be charming.”

“It was hard to believe at the time. You were acting like an arrogant arsehole. Every time you stepped on this jobsite. It was change this, or move that. Jesus this project was hell.”

“In my defense…” Harry starts but Niall interrupts him.

“I know. I know, it wasn't you.” And while he knows that now it doesn't take away how annoying Harry seemed then. “But you are sometimes still overly happy and it can be irritating.” Niall shares even though he really doesn't find it that annoying anymore, he now finds Harry happiness a bit contagious. He’s even smiling now.

“Will you find it irritating if I ask you to dinner tonight? Because we've just spent the last two hours here and I'm getting hungry. There is this farm to table restaurant around the corner that’s pretty amazing and if you don't want to call it a date I can expense it, call it a business meeting, and charge it on my company card.” Harry seems to be rambling so Niall decides to cut him off.

“How about we still expense it, talk a little bit about work and then some personal things and call it a practice date, to prepare for our real date next Saturday?” Niall offers up, he feels it’s a deal that Harry can’t turn down.

“A real date next Saturday?” He waits for Niall's nod, “I like it.” He’s honest if his smile is anything to go by, “but just for my reference can this practice date end with a practice kiss? ” He asks, green eyes full of mirth.

“Well…” Niall starts to say but he draws short when Harry steps closer so they are chest to chest. He places a hand on Niall's waist and waits- but Niall doesn't push him away or step away, the heat of Harry’s hand through his t-shirt warms him all the way to his cheeks where his blush makes Harry smile.

“Because you could have called anyone for this.” And Niall can’t help but be a little embarrassed that Harry saw through him so easily.

“But I called you.” And now that he’s brought it up he can’t stop dropping his eyes to Harry’s lips. He hates that he’s so easy for Harry to read, can tell he’s transparent because Harry’s got that smirk on his face- the one that makes Niall a little hot around the collar.

“Because you wanted to see me.” Harry prompts.

“I really did want you to walk though it with me. It wasn’t  _ just _ an excuse to see you.” Niall defends himself but in a way it makes it easier that he’s so transparent to Harry.

“But you wanted to see me.” Harry stresses again.

“Yeah. I wanted to see you.” Niall gives in on a laugh and Harry’s other hand comes up on the other side of his waist. 

“I think I’m going to skip the practice kiss,” Niall barely has time to be disappointed, “and just go for the real one right away.”

Niall barely has time to process the words before Harry’s lips are on his, soft warm pressure that sends a jolt through his system and his eyes drift closed. He lets his instincts take over and brings his hands up to Harry’s hips as he kisses him back. Harry pulls away, only to press in and kiss him again and again, finally using his teeth to bite Niall’s lower lip, soothing the gentle sting with his tongue. When he tugs on his lower lip again, he lets Harry deepen this kiss licking in while pulling him impossibly closer.

With that the intensity of the kiss skyrockets and Niall knows only Harry; Harry’s lips on his; his hands on his waist pulling in tight, the touch of each fingertip burning through his jeans and into his skin, each press of his lip, each stroke of his tongue. Niall’s hands creep up grabbing his shirt, tightening the material in his fists to try to ground him because right now he feels like he’s freefalling. 

He tries to move closer, but his knees feel weak, on the border of crumbling under his own weight, but Harry’s arm wraps tight around his waist, his other hand moving up to push through his hair tilting his head just right so his lips are slanting over his demanding more. The kiss turns more hungry; Niall finds his feet, walking Harry back until he hits the front door one hand on either side of Harry’s waist. 

Harry lets him press him to the door, taking over the kiss, teasing Harry and learning the curve of his lips with his own. He presses his hips and chest tight to Harry’s as their legs tangle together. He wants to get under his clothes, learn his tattoos, and the taste of his skin. He wants to learn all the places that make him lose that cocky grin and get lost in pleasure.

But now is not the time or the place, he pulls away in disappointment. 

“I don’t think Jeff would appreciate us doing this in his house before he gets the chance with his own fiancé.” Niall huffs out of breath, but it does what it’s supposed to lowering the growing tension as Harry lets out a loud laugh. His face is full of color, green eyes dark and dilated, lips dark red.

Niall feels like he’s walking on air as he steps back reaching a hand out for Harry to grab and he does quick enough lacing their fingers together. 

“Practice date?” Harry asks, stepping away from the door to pull it open.

“Maybe we should just skip the practice date… go for a real one.” Niall suggests.

“As long as I get more than one date and more kisses like that I don’t care.” Harry tugs him out the door, leaving the lights on for security as they make for their vehicles.

Niall doesn’t think more dates or kisses will be a problem.

\----

“Hey Niall, do you have a second?” Harry ask after finding him working on the install of the tile backsplash in the kitchen. Nothing has changed in the past three months, Harry still loves seeing Niall at work, also loves seeing him jump because it never fails that he scares Niall when he visits him on the job.

“Uh, sure.” He loves when those blue eyes focus on him, for a moment he forgets what he came for.

“I have something in the for you to look over in the job trailer.” He really doesn’t, but Niall doesn’t need to know that- not yet anyway.

“Yeah, let me finish this up,” He’s just finishing the grout on the tile, wiping it down and making sure that none is left on the tile; but Harry doesn't care. He loves watching Niall work and it really isn’t important. After just a few minutes, Niall turns back to him, “Ok, all yours.”

He is- all Harry’s anyway, has been for three months now and he’s loved every second of it. There had been a couple disagreements, he can’t really call them fights, but they recovered quick enough. 

Plus Harry has become Bobby’s favorite… but that’s only fair because Niall has stolen Harry’s mum right out from under him.

Niall is walking behind him to the job trailer, they are working on finishing up the guest cottage on the Azoff project and its gone a lot smoother. One reason was that Glenne was much better at making up her mind; the other reason really was that any frustrations they had with the project they got to shag out of their systems after work. It really made for a much smoother project.

Harry opens the door to the job trailer making sure that it was indeed empty before pulling his hard hat off and putting it on the desk and grabbing Niall’s as he comes in the door. 

“So what’s up?” Niall asks, looking around for any indicator that something might have changed, most likely a new copy of blueprints or Harry’s iPad.

“Uh, well,” He leans against the desk, spreading his legs and then grabbing Niall’s tool belt pulling him in between his outstretched legs. Niall takes small steps in until he’s flush with Harry’s hips but he’s still giving Harry a questioning look. “Well- I didn’t plan this out too well… but have you ever gotten blown in the job trailer? ‘Cause it’s our three month anniversary and its kinda been one of my fantasies since the first time I saw you in a toolbelt.” Harry looks up from under his lashes and watches as Niall’s neck and cheeks turn red.

“Uh, no, I’ve never…” Niall can’t even say it, and that’s why Harry loves him- he’s so... _ Niall. _

“So you up for it?” Harry asks.

“Is this my gift or yours?” He laughs raising a brow at Harry.

‘Both?” Harry quips back, nimble fingers already working on the buckle of Niall’s tool belt letting it fall to the ground with clunk. He’s been thinking about this day for months, well before they were actually together, but the fantasy was always about Niall, even before he knew that Niall was perfect for him. 

Niall reaches over and locks the door with a click that sounds louder than it is. Harry smiles as he drops to his knees in front of him, fingers pulling the button loose, “Happy Anniversary,” Niall tells him a hand brushing through his hair; he knows Niall has a weakness for his curls. He looks up through his lashes and flashes the cocky grin he knows that Niall wishes he could hate.

“Oh, this is just the beginning. _ ” _

[And it is]

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear from you. Please let me know what you think! Comments and Kudos are very much appreciated.
> 
> Or if you would prefer you can stop over on tumblr and say [Hello!](https://catrinahartsnarry.tumblr.com/).


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